University of Delaware Athletics
Frimpong?s Pair Pushes UD Past Foe W&M For First Time In Newark (Oct. 22, 2011)
10/22/2011 3:37:00 PM | Men's Soccer
Boxscore
NEWARK, Del. -- For the first time in four games involving the University of Delaware men's soccer team, a result was determined in the 90 minutes allotted for regulation, and for a third straight time, the result went the way of Delaware.
Behind a pair of goals from senior forward Evans Frimpong, the Hens managed to knock off long-time foe William & Mary 2-0 on Saturday night at Delaware Mini-Stadium, marking the first UD victory of the Tribe in Newark.
"It was a very pleasing performance tonight for the players against the defending champions and a very good William and Mary team, who will certainly be a playoff team and potentially an NCAA team,” said Ian Hennessy, who is in sixth season at Delaware. “I was thrilled again to get the clean sheet and so happy for Evans in his final home CAA game to score 2 terrific goals.”
Frimpong pushed what proved to be the game-winner in the 20th minute. After Kyle Ellis received a pass from Roberto Giménez, Ellis found a diving Frimpong who bicycle kicked the ball past Tribe keeper Colin Smolinsky.
The Accra, Ghana native continued to impress the 600 people on hand for the game late in the second half as he and Giménez set up a give and go in the 80th minute.
With his two goals, Frimpong notched his fifth multi-goal game of the season. But more importantly, gave Delaware its 10th win of the year, improving UD to 10-3-1 over all and 5-3-0 in the Colonial Athletic Association.
Delaware reached double-digit wins for the first time since 1985 and the 2011 edition of the Hens are just one win shy of tying the school's single-season wins record of 11, set twice in 1984 and 1985.
But the Tribe, who slip to 8-7-0 overall and 5-4-0 in the CAA, gave it their all, putting four shots on goal, but senior goalkeeper Kris Devaux was there to stop them all to log his fourth shutout of the season.
Both team's offense were relatively even as Delaware held a narrow 12-11 edge in shots. The Hens put seven of their 12 attempts on cage with Smolinsky making five saves on the night. Freshman Kyle Nuel nearly had a tally in the final two minutes, but put his attempt off the cross bar.
William & Mary, which received votes in this week's NSCAA National Rankings and sat at No. 33 in the TopDrawerSoccer.com rankings, was led on offense by Chris Perez, who managed to shots on goal while Michael Teiman and Nicolas Abrigo had one shot on goal each.
Frimpong accounted for five of Delaware's seven shots on goal, while John Dineen and Ignacio Martín had one each. Giménez is Delaware's leading assister, tallying his fifth and six assists of the year.
With his two tallies, Frimpong became the team's leading scorer, putting away 11 of Delaware's 30 goals, a total which bests the 2001 squad, which had 29 goals. Frimpong becomes the first UD player to hit double-figure goals since Sobhan Tadjalli had 11 in 2004.
The Saturday night win at Delaware Mini-Stadium marked the final CAA home game for the Hens this season. Over the last two years, Delaware has amassed a 10-1-0 conference record within friendly confines, the most for any team at home in the CAA in the last two seasons.
“The crowds at the game have been terrific this year and have helped our team immeasurably. We have a big game on Wednesday on the road at Towson and I feel a win can get us back into the playoffs so we must be prepared for a very important game,” commented Hennessy.
Delaware is on the road twice next week, starting with Towson University Wednesday for a tussle with the Tigers. Game time is slated for 3 p.m. at the Towson Center Soccer Complex.
